Help Millions in Peril: Support U.S. Humanitarian Assistance for Syrian Refugees

Syria's devastating civil war continues, driving more than one million people to seek safety in neighboring countries. Significant help is needed since the magnitude of the crisis far outweighs the international aid resources available to respond.

The majority of Syrian refugees are women and girls, as conflict disproportionately affects those most vulnerable. Many report fear of sexual violence as the primary reason for fleeing their homes.

Call on your member of Congress now to ensure that Syrian refugees and millions of other refugees uprooted by crisis receive the humanitarian assistance they desperately need.

Letter to

U.S. Congress

The conflict in Syria rages on, producing human suffering on an unimaginable scale. Over one million people have fled for their lives into neighboring countries and current estimates are that number will triple by year’s end. Within Syria’s borders, nearly four million people are in need of food, medical supplies and other life-saving assistance.

I write to express support for U.S. humanitarian assistance that is needed to respond to this and other humanitarian crises around the world. Automatic spending cuts have reduced the level of available resources to assist people whose lives have been shattered by conflicts and natural disasters. Without a strong level of humanitarian assistance in the next fiscal year, it will be impossible for the U.S. to respond to the Syrian crisis without reducing its support for those suffering in places like Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Horn of Africa.

Humanitarian assistance has always received strong, bipartisan support from the American people. I urge you to take the necessary steps to protect and strengthen our ability to help people affected by emergencies as Congress considers funding levels for FY 2014. This should include supporting humanitarian assistance levels for the Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) and International Disaster Assistance (IDA) accounts at overall funding levels approved for FY 2013.

With more people displaced by conflict around the world than at any other point in the last 15 years, we simply cannot afford to turn our backs now.